scholarly journals Masks, Mingling and Magic: Gibberish Law in the Age of Covid

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Ward
Keyword(s):  
John Milton ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
The Rule Of Law

AbstractThe experience of Covid-19 has taught us many things, not least the consequence of what John Milton termed ‘gibberish law’. Law drafted amidst the ‘throng and noises of irrational men’. The closer purpose of this article is the attempt to regulate ‘gatherings’ during the coronavirus pandemic, including the re-invention of a bespoke crime of ‘mingling’. A jurisprudential curiosity which, it will be suggested, is symptomatic of a broader malaise. An assault on the integrity of the rule of law which is only too familiar; much, it might be said, like the arrival of a pandemic. The first part of the article will revisit three particular gatherings, in part to debunk the myth of the unprecedented. But also to introduce some themes, literal and figurative, of masking and muddle. The conjuring of what Shakespeare called ‘rough magic’. The second part of the article will then take a closer look at the jurisprudential consequence of this conjuration. The final part will venture some larger concerns, about the crisis of parliamentary democracy in the ‘age of Covid’.

Constraining Leviathan

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Boucher
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Secret Ballot ◽  
Contributory Factors ◽  
Contemporary Politics

In this chapter the place of Hobbes in relation to the twentieth-century crisis of civilization is explored through the writings of Schmitt and Oakeshott. The nature of the crisis is explored, and it becomes evident that the pernicious elements that one perceives as the contributory factors in the decline are what the other claims are the strengths which are being undermined by the crisis. Both Oakeshott and Schmitt are critics of liberalism, but whereas Schmitt sees parliamentary democracy as a weakness emanating from liberalism, Oakeshott believes that parliamentary democracy predates modern liberalism, and is one of the strengths of contemporary politics with the potential to resist the decline. Individuality, pluralism, the secret ballot, and the rule of law are for Schmitt unnecessary constraints contributory to the depoliticization of the political, undermining the capacity of the sovereign to determine, or decide who are friends and enemies.

scholarly journals Constitution-Making in Bhutan: A Complex and Sui Generis Experience

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkat Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Meaningful Role ◽  
Constitution Making

Abstract The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which had remained isolated from the rest of the world until the 1970s, embarked on a series of transformational reforms in the new millennium that included the replacement of the country’s century-old absolute monarchy with a parliamentary democracy and the enactment of a written constitution based on Western principles, such as the separation of powers and the rule of law. The ‘democratization’ process was unique, not least for the fact that the impetus for change came from the monarch, who pressed ahead with his modernization agenda in the face of palpable opposition from his people, arguing that popular democracy was the only viable way forward for Bhutan in the modern age. The process of constitution making involved the striking of a delicate balance between tradition and modernity and ensuring that the monarchy continued to play a meaningful role in the country’s affairs. This article argues that, although the process itself ran smoothly, it is too early to judge the durability and long-term success of Bhutan’s new constitutional arrangements.

Postcommunist ambivalence: becoming of a new formation?

1996 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Misztal
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Strong State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Real Socialism ◽  
Postcommunist Transformation ◽  
Insight Into

The initial optimistic illusions about the future of postcommunist countries have been cut short by not so encouraging developments in these societies. With the growing awareness that the postcommunist transition cannot be understood as a linear passage to a free market and parliamentary democracy, more attention is paid to the social and economic obstacles as well as to the legacy of real socialism. The feelings of increasing uncertainty about the outcome of postcommunist transformation have led some writers to characterise Eastern Europe as being in the stage of liminality (or in an inbetween stage), in which everything may happen yet little can be done (Bauman 1994: 32). Arguing from a Tocquevillian position for the need of both a strong state and a strong civil society and also adopting his insight into the importance of enlightened interest, I shall discuss factors responsible for a lack of government which operates under the rule of law, as well as discussing factors responsible for obstructing the development of civil society and the emergence of enlightened interest in the post-communist societies.

The Rule of Law under Surveillance

2020 ◽  
pp. 168-204
Author(s):  
Ewing Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
Legitimate Reason ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Radical Movements

This chapter addresses the surveillance of lawyers. Lawyers had no immunity from MI5 surveillance during the Cold War, and progressive lawyers had even less. However, just as the surveillance of MPs was an affront to the principles of parliamentary democracy that MI5 was under a mandate to defend, the surveillance of lawyers was just as great an affront to the Rule of Law, another core liberal value that the Service was bound to respect and sustain, albeit that it did neither convincingly. There is no legitimate reason why lawyers should be targeted, unless there was reason to believe that they were involved in espionage or subversion, of which there is evidence of neither. In the absence of any such suspicion, radical movements are entitled to confidential legal advice, as are radical individuals involved in litigation, while lawyers who provide support for unpopular causes are entitled to expect freedom from harassment by the State.

scholarly journals Verfassungsaufsicht in der Europäischen Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Core ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
The Eu

This book offers, in five parts, an analysis of the so-called rule of law crisis in the EU. The first part focuses on the concepts that help to understand the rule of law crisis, in particular that of “systemic deficiencies in the rule of law”. In order to shine light on the complex concept of “rule of law” included in Art. 2 TEU, the author focusses on the operationalisation of the rule of law in recent CJEU jurisprudence. The second part of the book is devoted to developments in certain Member States that make up the rule of law crisis. Special attention is paid to Poland and Hungary. The third part deals with the main thesis of the book: why it is useful to conceive of the measures taken in response to the rule of law crisis as "constitutional supervision” in EU law. The merits and roots of this concept are discussed in detail. On this basis, the fourth part presents the core of the analysis: the different mechanisms of EU constitutional supervision. After introducing its different actors, the work focuses on the activities of the European Commission. The final part concludes with an outlook.

Descartes, Rousseau, de Gaulle: France’s Constitutional Waltz of Plebiscitarian Caesarism

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai G. Wenzel
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Fifth Republic ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Culture ◽  
French People ◽  
Constitutional Constraints ◽  
And Function ◽  
De Gaulle

AbstractSince 1789, France has had 21 constitutional regimes. This paper explains French constitutional instability through the optic of “constitutional culture” – the norms, attitudes, and beliefs, conscious and unconscious, held by a dominant portion of the French people about the nature, scope and function of constitutional constraints. French constitutional culture has historically been torn between a desire for a strong and effective state, and an obsessive veneration of democracy. This paper argues that France’s constitutional instability between 1789 and the constitution of 1958 was a series of swings between plebiscitarianism and caesarism, caused by the influences of Rousseau and Descartes. Problems remain, especially the risks of an unconstrained “hyperpresidentialism” and undue power to the street’s ability to bully the rule of law into continued rents. But the Fifth Republic has been successful because it balanced the tensions through a semi-presidential system: the plebiscitarianism of parliamentary democracy, along with the caesarism of a strong presidency.

Changing the rule of law

IEE Review ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Clifford Gray
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law
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